Come What May
by DaisieRain
Summary: Sophie Thanes and her experiences and trials at Hogwarts with the new generation of witches and wizards. With the Dark Lord gone, the new generation seems to have nothing to fear. Unfortunately for them, there is always something to fear. Rating will change.
1. Chapter 1

While the room was brightly lit with the warm, morning sun of August, it could not have felt any colder. Tapestries of elaborately woven blood red adorned the walls, basking in the light entering in from the windows across from them. However, the pale stone walls that stood behind them were colder than they had ever been before. This room was a study, having been used for centuries. It was ornate and grand. Delicately carved oak furniture embellished intricate maroon and gold embroidered cloth. There were ancient trinkets and ornaments that lined the shelves and table tops. The serene air of the polished room was shattered with distant murmurs and footsteps, muffled by the walls. Then, the large wooden door at the far end of the room swung open, though the hinges protested the entire way. Following the echoes of the heels came voices. A mixture of high and low, nasally and deeps, melodic and raspy voices filled the air and the group stepped out of the dark corridor and into the sunlit room.

"Has there been any success in locating them?" The high, strident voice belonged to a woman who was the very embodiment of power. She walked tall, shoulders back and chin up. Her silver hair was pulled back as tight as her mouth set in a line. Her robes were pressed and crisp and as black as a funeral parade. It was clear she was the peak of the status pyramid.

"Not yet. It would seem… she has employed magic that we have not been able to, well, identify." His voice was deep and low and rough. The reply came from a tall man, young but clearly aged by stress, with small flecks of grey in his midnight hair.

"Damn it." The woman slammed a file down on her desk. Placing one hand on the polished desk, she opened the file with her other. On the first page was a picture of a family of five. There was a large, red X over the face of the father. Three circles were placed around three other faces. The mother, and her two eldest children, a girl, and a little boy.

"What about the third one, her youngest? Would she work?" Another voice spoke, creaky and old.

"No, she isn't magical." The woman then let out a harsh laugh. "My perfect little sister produced a squib. The irony."

Just then, there was a quiet pecking at the window. The woman looked up and her crowd parted, giving her a clear line of sight. It was a small, brown and grey speckled owl, with a piece of parchment tied to it's leg.

"Is that…? Marcus, fetch it for me." The woman gestured to the worn, young man, who immediately set out to accomplish this task. He opened the window, and the small owl hopped into the ledge. He swiftly untied the parchment, and within 5 large steps, he placed it into her hands.

She broke the wax seal, opened it and scanned the contents. She reread the words, her eyes quickly moving from side to side. Suddenly, she let out a harsh cry, which quickly turned into a gleeful laugh. Looking up to see the confusion on her subordinate's faces, she let her delight show full force.

"It would seem," she spoke slowly, setting the parchment down and letting her grin grow wider. "My little squib of a niece had produced a magical child. And this child, it would seem, is not _protected_ by my sister's little enchantment. She will work. Find her, get her. I need her. Understood?" She narrowed her eyes as she surveyed the crowd before her. They all shook their head in agreement. "Now go, quickly, survey her, I want to know every detail about her. Unfortunately, she is still too young. We will have to wait a couple more years, but no matter, no matter. Yes, she will do nicely." She began to trail off, then she realized her group has not dispersed, and waved her hands, signaling their dismissal. They were off like a pack of rats.

Once their chatter and footsteps faded into silence, the woman moved slowly to stand by the window, overlooking the well-kept and green gardens. There was a sense of glee and excitement that was slowly washing over her.

"I've won Callista. I've won."


	2. Chapter 2

Sophie was certain that this was all a dream. There was no such thing as magic, she was not the little girl that used to believe in pixies and unicorns and fairytales. At any moment, she was going to wake up in her bed, in her home, with her sister snoring loudly beside her. In believing in this, she kept pinching herself. Yet, there she sat, her eyes focused on the fast-moving land outside her window, wide awake.

Although she had not even been gone an hour, Sophie began to miss her family terribly. She had never really be separated from them for a period as long as what she would be this year, well, not from her sister really. She has been to a boarding school before when her parents were abroad for a year, but she had her sister beside her then. She didn't now, and the thought of not seeing him until Christmas caused a hole to consume her chest.

She understood why he couldn't follow her this year, to this school. The rules were quite transparent. But she didn't understand why. Why had it been only her to receive a letter, and not her sister as well? They were twins after all. Shared everything from clothes to a bedroom to a birthday to a face. At first, she had thought there had been a mistake, maybe the companion letter for her sister had to be lost or delivered to the wrong home. So, she had waited to open her letter from weeks until it dawned on them, and sunk in, that there was no other letter coming. There had been a fit and tears, but eventually, when a woman had come to the door with an explanation for the letter did everything begin to make sense, sort of. Sophie had sat there at that meeting in a state of shock, while her sister had asked most of the questions. Her parents seemed to look between her and the woman, pale but receptive to what they were being told. It was later in the week, with the help of the woman, that they went to get her supplies and robes. The entire process was weird to her. And after a month, she had found herself here. Sitting, alone, on a very noisy train that was heading to a very strange place. Sophie wasn't sure that she could do this, not alone. She needed her sister, she needed Cecilie.

She was shaken out of her thoughts when an elderly man knocked on her door and told her that she was to change into her robes, as they would at Hogwarts within the hour. And so she did. While she was used to the button up blouse and the skirt, she didn't find herself very fond of the tie that she had to wear, nor the robe that she had to wear over everything else. And the shoes, while she found a little ugly, were actually quite comfy. But the socks were itchy. She sighed as she settled herself back into her seat by the window, she supposed that everything was a compromise.

* * *

When the train stopped at the station, Sophie could not help but stare at the man that was sent  
to meet them. He was twice as tall as a normal man and nearly three times as wide, much bigger than her father, whom she thought was the largest man she had ever seen.

"First years follow me!" He had bellowed, and within a tad bit of reluctance, Sophie did has he had said. She, along with a very large group of kids, followed the giant man to some docks where they were then instructed to fill the boats. Sophie had managed to clamber, rather awkwardly and clumsily, into a boat, filled with other boys and girls her age, but they barely glanced at her, their noses high in the air, as if they were trying to escape an awful smell.

Despite the clear night, Sophie found that, while on the water, the world seemed awfully dark. There was no moon in the night sky, and what little stars there were seemed to be dimmed. However, almost all thoughts vanished from her head once the magnificent castle rose into view. From what little she could see, it seemed to be grand, with spiraling towers and glowing windows and great halls. As they drew closer, she found that she was correct. It looked at though it was from one of her fairytale books, the kind where the prince would take the princess to live happily ever after. The thought of that brought a little spark of excitement into Sophie, but she quickly scolded herself for thinking like she was four again. There was no such thing as happily ever after or princesses finding their princes.

There was a gust of wind, strong enough that it gave the small boat a good rocking, and Sophie clutched the side until her knuckles went white. Her movements had not gone unnoticed by the other passengers in the boat, who eyed her oddly. One, a large boy with dark curls, spoke to her.

"What, don't you fancy a swim?" His words erupted laughter in the others, and Sophie decided then that she didn't like them very much.

"Not really. I'm not very fond of water." Was her reply, and though she spoke softly, intimidated by the others, she spoke loud enough to ensure that her words had been registered. Her companions on the boat snickered, and began to rock it back and forth. Sophie felt her face pale as she grasped the side of the boat, holding on for dear life. Just about when she thought they were about to flip, she heard a voice coming from the boat to their right.

"Claude, stop that! Do you really want to be soaking for the Sorting Ceremony? Not really a good first impression, eh?" Sophie, who realized that her eyes were scrunched closed quite tightly, opened them hoping to find the owner of the voice. Unfortunately, she was unable, as the boat with the voice must've pulled ahead of theirs. Whoever had spoken was clearly respected by the large boy, Claude. Her father had always said that if she wanted people to listen to her, she had to be respected. Claude had obviously listened, as the boat had stopped rocking and was now smoothly gliding across the lake. She heard him snickered under his breath to his partner beside him, a lanky girl with an awful shade of brown for hair, or so it looked in the dark.

" _Isn't she pathetic? I mean, did you see the way she grabbed the boat?"_

" _I know, she's so tiny too, poor little thing. She's not going to amount to much."_

Sophie ignored the rest of the conversation. She focused on the ever increasing castle that they were heading to, where she would be stuck until the end of the year. Her chest grew heavy with dread.

They docked at a large boathouse that clearly needed repairing. There were several boards missing on the roof, and some of the floorboards were rotting away. The building itself smelled of seaweed and wet wood. The giant man, Hagrid as he had introduced himself as, lead them up a path, toward the castle. By the time they had reached the front doors, Sophie's feet ached and she longed to sit down, though she voiced none of this. She followed the rest of her group up the steps and into the fairytale castle. Up another flight of stairs, and down a large corridor, Sophie soon found herself standing in front of a pair of large, elegantly carved doors.

There had been a young man, Professor MacArthur he had called himself, who had told them about the four houses of Hogwarts: Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, Slytherin, and Hufflepuff, which she had heard on the train. There was to be some sort of ceremony, where each one of them was to be placed into a house. The thought of it scared Sophie, as she wiped the sweat off of her palms and onto her robe. She heard the doors open, and her heart began to race and she felt herself begin to tremble.

"Follow me, everyone." Professor MacArthur spoke, and he turned to lead the great crowd of first years in.

Looking from side to side, Sophie was shocked at a number of students this school had. There were four, very long tables, filled from end to end with students of all ages. However, as the group drew closer to the front, Sophie noticed there was a small section at the front of each table, and it dawned on her that they must have reserved a section for them, the newcomers of the school.

Once at the front, Professor MacArthur explained that he would call their names, they would come up, the Sorting Hat would be placed on their head, a house will be chosen and then they were to go join their respective houses. The group nodded, and the reading of the list began.

"Abel, Thomas!" A small boy, with light brown hair and freckles, pushed his way to the front of the crowd and onto the steps, where he sat on the three-legged stool.

"RAVENCLAW!" The sorting hat's voice ranging, causing Sophie to jump. Thomas jumped off the stool and walked quickly to the Ravenclaw table.

"Acrome, Claire!" A plump little girl made her way on the stool, where the hat quickly replied with:

"HUFFLEPUFF!" She heard a few sniggers as Claire sat down at the Hufflepuff table.

Sophie wasn't sure how many children there were on the list, but she knew that there was a lot. With her feet aching, and now her stomach rumbling, this whole ceremony was taking way too long. She almost wondered if they could just take a break to eat and then continue on later, but she thought it best not to voice this idea.

The list worked it's way through the B's, then C's, and made it's way onto the D's. At this point, Sophie had taken to looking around the room. She would be in the T's, for Thanes. She had a while to go yet before she would be able to sit down. Glancing around the room, she saw coloured banners, each colour with a different animal. She then noticed that each colour corresponded to a colour on the robes of the students. Must be a way of distinguishing the houses, she thought. Once her eyes made it to the ceiling, it took all her effort not to let her jaw drop.

It was absolutely beautiful. It was a deep, dark blue, almost falling into a deep black. In it was wisps of what she assumed to be clouds, but she could only distinguish them against the bright moon that hung up there. With the full moon, hung what had to be thousands of tiny, little stars the caused the deep blue-black sky to almost appear to be sparkling. After admiring it, she decided that they must've stolen the moon and the stars from the night sky outside to hang in here. That's why it seemed so dark out there when they crossed the lake.

She faintly heard Professor MacArthur say something, and she pulled her attention back to the sorting. She saw her soon-to-be classmates look around, whispering among themselves. Professor MacArthur spoke again:

"Thanes, Sophie."

Sophie swallowed down her fear, and she slowly walked toward the front. She felt all eyes on her, and she felt warmth flood her cheeks. She sat down on the stool, trying hard to fall or make a fool of herself. Sophie cast a glance towards Professor MacArthur, who gave her a small smile as he placed the Sorting Hat on her head. It was heavier than she expected, and it almost didn't fit on her head. At first, it didn't say anything, but she did hear the occasional "hmmm…." or "huhhh…." and she began to grow nervous. Well, more nervous than what she was before she was placed at the front for everyone to see. Eventually, after what seemed to be eternity to her, the hat cried out:

"HUFFLEPUFF!" And the hat was pulled off of her head. She slid off the stool and tried to calmly, but quickly, make her way to the Hufflepuff table.

As Sophie approached, she felt her nerves heighten again. Where was she supposed to sit? Was there assigned seating? She swallowed and just decided to pick a spot. She sat beside a boy who gave her a smile and said hello. He brushed his dark hair out of his eyes and held out his hand. His name was Henry McLillian and he was a third-year student. Sophie shook his hand and spoke her name. She chatted with him, politely, until he was called into another conversation among students who seemed to be in his own year. And so, Sophie turned her attention to the empty plate and goblet in front of her, until she felt something brush against her.

Sophie looked to where the movement had come from and found that what had been an empty seat moment ago was now filled with the body of a small girl, whose hair seemed to switch between a copper and a brown. The girl turned toward her and gave her a bright smile.

"My name is Lucy. Lucy Weasley." She spoke in a voice the very much reminded Sophie of bells.

"I'm Sophie Thanes," She replied and returned her smile. "It's nice to meet you, Lucy."

"You too!" And an awkward silence fell over them. Then Lucy spoke up again. "Do you have any siblings here?"

Sophie's chest began to hurt. For a moment there, she had forgotten about her sister. "No."

"Oh, are you the oldest then? I've got an older sister here, but she's in Gryffindor, over there." Lucy turned and pointed to the table beside theirs. Across from them and just a little farther down sat a girl, obviously older than them. Her hair was lighter than Lucy's and was much more orange than brown. Lucy's then directed her attention to a blonde haired girl, a strawberry blonde haired girl with dark eyeliner, a dark haired girl, and two dark haired boys. Her cousins she had said, Victoire, Dominique, Fred, Roxanne and James (both of whom, she pointed out, were in their year).

"Do you have a large family?" Sophie asked and Lucy had to stifle a laugh.

"I would say that large would be an understatement. I have a couple cousins and a sister over there, then I have another cousin in Slytherin, Louis, he's really nice, I think you'd like him. And then I have a sort-of-cousin-" Lucy was cut off by a boy sliding in beside her, knocking her into Sophie. She sat up and elbowed him in the side, to which he playfully pretended it hurt. Lucy then turned her attention back to Sophie, who was looking between the two. "This is my sort-of-cousin, Teddy." He was handsome, she supposed. He had dark eyes and a very bright pink hair. His chin was chiseled, much like the statues Sophie had seen in her Grandparent's garden, and his shoulders filled out his robed quite nicely. "Teddy, this is Sophie."

He smiled at her, and she felt a small blush rise into her cheeks. "Hi Sophie, it's nice to meet you." He held out his hand.

"It's nice to meet you too," Sophie spoke as she shook his hand. Teddy turned his attention back to Lucy.

"I just came over to say hi, and it's nice to have another Hufflepuff in the family. We are getting outnumbered by the Gryffindors." He chuckled and patted Lucy on the back before standing up and walking to where Sophie presumed he had been sitting previously.

"He seems nice," Sophie spoke.

"Oh, he is! But he's a bit of a trouble maker apparently. Always getting in trouble for something. It doesn't help that Fred is the same. Last year there was apparently a lot of pranks played. It's probably going to be worse this year, what with James being here now. There'll be three of them now. The professors had better watch out." Lucy laughed, and Sophie found herself smiling.

Just then, there was a clanging of a piece of silverware against the melt goblet and their attention was drawn to the front, where, there sat a massive table. Henry had told her that the teachers sit at this table. There was one professor who was standing. She raised her hands and silence fell in the hall.

"I would like to welcome you all back for another year at Hogwarts. Now, I know we are all hungry, so dig in!" At that, the tables bloomed with platters upon platter of food.

Sophie dug right in, filling it with anything and everything she could get her hands on.

* * *

The Hufflepuff prefects, Benjamin Strauss and Evelyn Nare, lead the first years to their common room. They explained how to enter, and then proceeded to demonstrate. To enter, one must tap the rhythm of "Helga Hufflepuff" and a door opened.

Sophie's first impression of the common room was yellow. Not like a blinding sort of yellow but a warm, mood-lifting sort of yellow. Her second impression was that it had a rather homey feel to it. The room was round and the ceiling was low. The furniture was overstuffed and upholstered in, of course, yellow and black, while the wood was honey coloured and polished till it shined. Near the top of the walls were circular windows that lined up with ground level, giving Sophie of view what looked to be a sea of grass. The walls were also lined with plants, some of which talked and danced, causing Sophie to have to do a couple double-takes. At the far end of the room was a fireplace, bordered by a simple yet decorative mantle. Right above it hung a picture of who could only be Helga Hufflepuff herself.

The two prefects split the newcomers up. Boys were to go with Benjamin and girls with Evelyn, as they had to go separate ways to get to the dormitories. The boys headed through one of the circular doorways, while Evelyn lead the girls through another. The tunnel was rounded, much like the door, and it oddly reminded her of when her brother, Thad, had read her the Hobbit a few years back. Bilbo had round doors and hallways much like the Hufflepuffs did. Evelyn showed to girls to their room, and then left them to get settled in. Once again, Sophie was overcome with the Homey feeling. The circular room was lined with four poster beds, enough for the seven new additions. Each bed was a four-poster bed, made of the same honey coloured, polished wood. They were covered in a thick patchwork quilt. The room itself with illuminated by copper lamps that seemed to emit a sort of comforting warmth. The wall was also lined with copper bed warmers, no doubt for the cold winter nights.

Sophie and the other girls spread out to locate their suitcases. Sophie was the first to find hers, and the rest quickly followed. Pjs were put on and items were unpacked. What was once a quiet room was slowly filling with sound, as the girls began to get more comfortable with each other.

Claire, a brown eyed, blonde-haired pudgy, little thing was definitely one of the most talkative of the group, who seemed to have a fondness for horses. Bree, a lanky, mousy brown, green eyed girl seemed to find almost anything thing funny. Penelope, a black haired, brown eyed beauty of a girl, seemed to have a fondness of Quidditch (which she had to kindly explain to Sophie, as she had never even heard that word before). Laurel, the younger sister of Evelyn, shared Claire's enthusiasm for their equine pals. Charlotte, similar to Sophie herself, kept mostly to herself. Finally, there was Lucy Weasley, who had sat by Sophie at the feast. Finally, there was Lucy Weasley. While she seemed to thrive in the loud atmosphere, she mainly seemed to speak to Sophie. Perhaps it was because she was quiet and talked quietly, unlike the other girls in the room. Even Penelope, when she did talk, had a very loud voice that carried.

"So, Sophie, what's your family like?" Lucy had asked, as she seated herself on her bed, which happened to be situated right beside Sophie's.

"Well, they aren't anything fascinating. My parents are surgeons, so they spend more time at the hospital than they do at home." Sophie spoke, but at had to quickly add "Not that it's their fault, it's just a demanding job" when she saw Lucy's face.

"Ser-jons?" Lucy had to sound out the word as if she had never said it before.

"Yeah, they're like really fancy doctors. They, well, they cut people open to see what's wrong internally. They save lives."

"That sounds like a terrible job." Lucy shook her head, clearly unsettled by the fact that Sophie's parents made a living by cutting people up.

"I agree, but they enjoy it or else I guess they wouldn't do it," Sophie admitted.

"So what about siblings? You got any siblings?" Lucy changed the subject.

"Yeah, I've got two. An older brother, Thaddeus, but we call him Thad. He's 4 years older than me. Then I have a sister, a twin. Her name's Cecilie. She three and a half minutes older than me."

"And she didn't get a letter?"

"No, and she was right choked too. We've always done everything together, so we didn't understand why it was just me this time. I miss her a lot, and it hasn't even been a day. I don't know how I'm going to survive all year."

"Yeah, that has to be tough. I have an uncle who had a twin, but he died in the last Wizarding War. I never knew him, but apparently, it changed my uncle a lot."

"I couldn't imagine that." They faded into silence.

Soon the lamps around them began to dim, and the girls understood it's meaning: time for bed.

* * *

 _So first Harry Potter Fanfic... go me. I_ _feel the need to clarify the ages of the next generation characters, just because wheneveR I read Next Gen fanfics, I can confuzzled._

 _So,_

 _Teddy Lupin- 7th year_

 _Victoire Weasley- 5th year_

 _Dominque Weasley and Molly Weasley- 3rd year_

 _Louis Weasley and Fred Weasely- 2nd year_

 _Lucy Weasley, James Potter, and Roxanne Weasley- 1st year_

 _The others (Albus, Rose, Lily, and Hugo, and Scorpius) haven't started yet._


End file.
